Summary
When the fourth chapter begins, Mali has quit his studies to focus on writing. Jagan supports him financially, leaving money out for him in the morning. The two basically never speak and are rarely home at the same time. Jagan spends a great deal of time wondering about how Mali's work is progressing but is hesitant to actually ask him about it. He grows increasingly anxious about how things are going for Mali.
One day, Jagan's cousin comes to visit and Jagan asks him to talk to Mali about what is going on. The cousin says this might seem intrusive but ultimately agrees to do it. He returns and informs Jagan that Mali has now decided he would like to go to America, as this is the only place he believes he can be adequately educated to become a writer. However, the cousin informs Jagan, Mali has not actually written the novel he said he was going to.
Jagan also learns that Mali has been preparing for this journey for some time and has also been stealing money from him to get his travel plans in order. He looks at this theft as an act of resourcefulness. The cousin adds that he will be flying to America soon and Jagan becomes emotional about his departure, asking the cousin to tell Mali to take a steamer instead of an airplane, as he believes that will be safer. He goes home and notices that ten thousand rupees have been taken, likely the total cost of passage for Mali's journey.
Mali travels to America and Jagan brags about him in town while he is gone. Jagan travels to a printing office to receive his telegrams from Mali. Mali writes with a surprising frequency, describing the many things that are happening in America and how different it is from India. Jagan cherishes these letters and rereads them over and over. He becomes distressed when he learns that Mali has begun eating beef, as it runs counter to one of the most sacred laws of Hinduism.
Mali returns to India and Jagan is further shocked when he is joined by a half-American, half-Asian woman named Grace. Mali brusquely introduces Grace as his wife and proceeds to complain intensely about how "backwards" he finds India to be, as he believes a great deal of time is constantly being wasted. Grace is kind to Jagan when they first meet but he remains anxious about how Mali's marriage will be seen in the town.
Jagan begins avoiding people's questions about Mali as he remains very nervous about having to give difficult answers. He talks with Grace and learns that she was the one who wrote all of the letters Jagan received. Jagan is again surprised. Mali asks about the possibility of installing a telephone in the house, as he says he needs to be able to answer business calls at all times.
Mali explains a business proposition to Jagan. Jagan is distracted and does not understand the content of what he is asking for. He looks closely at Mali's face and notices that he looks slightly tired and a little pale. He is concerned about this, but decides to say nothing. Jagan says he will think Mali's proposal over, which makes both Grace and Mali very excited.
Analysis
This section of the book addresses the cultural and generational clashing that drives most of the novel. Mali desires a Western education in America and expects his father to pay for it. Jagan acquiesces to Mali's wishes but is quickly disturbed to learn how much of an impact the trip has on Mali. He begins to see that while he can give Mali as much money as he wants, he cannot control the outcome of his charity.
As Jagan grows increasingly dismayed by Mali's choices, tension arises between father and son in the same way it exists between the disparate cultures they occupy. In a letter, Mali informs Jagan that he has begun eating beef, which goes against an important law of Hinduism. Then, when Mali returns to India, Jagan learns that he has married an American woman. This creates a stir and concerns Jagan because it is common practice for people in Malgudi to wed other Hindu individuals. Jagan discovers that the financial support he has been giving Mali has not translated into appreciation or care, as Mali appears determined to reject every cultural tenet Jagan has ever valued. Mali's dismissive comments about the pace of progress in India indicate that he seems determined to wound and offend his father at every opportunity.
The issue of money also plays a key role in these chapters as Jagan learns that Mali has been stealing money from him to pay for his trip to America. While Jagan is not angry about Mali's behavior, the novel highlights the absurdity of the fact that Jagan has been supporting Mali and Mali has repaid this kindness by robbing him. Notably, most of Jagan's interactions with Mali happen indirectly – it is Jagan's cousin, rather than Jagan himself, who communicates with Mali to figure out what he wants. The only relationship Jagan and Mali have, therefore, is based on the money that Mali sometimes requests and sometimes steals from his father. This dynamic reflects the absence of a healthy parent-child bond, and the novel continues to suggest that this lack derives from the death of Jagan's wife and Mali's mother. The mother's absence becomes one of the tacit motifs in the novel, as her death has shaped both Mali and Jagan's behavior.
This section closes with Mali's business proposal, the details of which Jagan is too distracted to take note of. Instead, he merely sees that his son is looking somewhat unwell. Clarification about the actual proposal comes later, but what this scene communicates is Mali's lack of self-sufficiency. He has no interest in making an independent life for himself. He still requires his father's support, but now, after having grown so used to it, views it as something he is entitled to. This sets up the main conflict for the remainder of the novel. When Jagan notices that Mali looks pale and sickly, the novel foreshadows Mali's slow "fall," suggesting that his outward appearance is beginning to reflect his inner state of selfishness, idleness, and confusion.
